Tuesday, February 16, 2010

1. turn off the tv (unplug if you have to)2. hold down the S on the side of the TV.3. While holding the S button press the power on button 4. when you see the menu screen release the s button.5. hope for the best.

if you are in the window for a return DO IT NOW. it is a terrible TV. If not write these instructions down you will be using them alot as this tv has something wrong that makes it freeze all the time.

Good safety gear is a must. Goggles that can handle the heat, welding gloves, respirator.... the main risks are fumes and flying molten metal so dress appropriate. This is not a safe process and i don't recommend you do it!

1. The bust built in wax. note the vent from the chin and the large reservoir to get a mass of metal pushing in.
2. nails are put in to make blind vents.
3. Plaster is painted over the entire piece and then the nails are pulled.
4. after pulling the nails it is wrapped in rags soaked in plaster. and a small can is attached to make an easy spot to pour.
5. the can is cut to allow for the wax to flow out and the can is put in the boiling water.
6. a coffee can holds the heat on the mold. The wax that flows out needs to be constantly removed to stop it from exploding with steam under a continuous surface of wax.
7. The wax burned out a little longer over the fire
8. video of the pour. The zinc from Rotometals is heated in a normal can that food comes in. it is bent with pliers to make a nice spout. As you can see the burnout was inadequate and lead to a metal volcano.

9. after the pour some wax was not burned out and caused steam to prevent full filling of the mold.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Used "amazing mold putty" material to make the mold from a wax sculpture of JP2 for this one. gotta redo it with some good popsicle filling like cherry. maybe add the tall pope hat to make it more obvious.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

I am about to cast a wax sculpture that took a long time to make. because of my fear that it will not turn out I duplicated the head in wax.Here is the originalWrapping the head in Amazing mold putty. I only did the head because this stuff is not cheap. It is a very easy way to make copies of just about anything though. It is like two tubes of silly putty like substances that you mix. After it sets i cut the back of the mold with a razor.

Here is the mold being filled with wax. I melted microcrystaline wax in a can sitting in boiling water. The back of the mold is held shut by the can.

The completed head not a perfect replica (lost an ear). but enough that i can work from if I need to.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Cooking vegetarian does not need to mean cooking healthy.1. drain two boxes of extra firm tofu. cut in 1/2 the long way and cut in 1/2 in a horizontal plane. cut a number of strips as shown below. Then marinate in Franks red hot.

4. fry until slightly brown. These were done in olive oil on medium. Olive oil is not ideal but is what i had. I usually use canola for this sort of thing. Then cover in buffalo sauce (2:1 franks:butter) and eat!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

My Brother got this book as a Christmas gift and I have been digging (lol) through it for tips for next year. Will be growing the same plants as always but using some of his tips to hopefully improve the harvest.

1) I will be building up as he suggests with a 1:1:1 compost/vermiculite/peatmoss mix. I will likely not go for the full 6" as my existing soil is fairly good and was mixed with compost in the fall.

2) Excited about the appendix with timing for starting seeds and transferring seeds outdoors.